Israel launched late Saturday another wave of strikes on Hezbollah militia strongholds, hours after intercepting rockets fired from Lebanon, as a ceasefire appeared on the brink of collapse.
The Lebanese Health Ministry said that six people were killed, including a child, and 31 others were wounded in Israeli airstrikes on Saturday on areas in the south and east of the country.
After an initial air raid following rocket fire toward the northern Israeli town of Metula, Israeli jets carried out a second wave of strikes later in the evening.
The renewed violence is the heaviest exchange of fire since a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect in November.
Lebanese security sources said there were around 80 Israeli strikes throughout the day.
The Arabic speaking Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X that the IDF “attacked command centers, terrorist infrastructure, terrorist operatives, missile launchers, and a weapons depot belonging to the terrorist Hezbollah in Lebanon.”
He stressed that the IDF will continue to carry out airstrikes as long as necessary and will continue to act to protect the citizens of of Israel.
The two waves of attacks came after the IDF said six rockets were fired from Lebanon at the northern Israeli border town of Metula, on Saturday morning, with no injuries or damage reported. All of the rockets were either intercepted or fell short of their targets.
Hezbollah denied any responsibility for the rockets.
“The Israeli enemy’s claims are merely pretexts to justify its ongoing aggression against Lebanon, which has not stopped since the announcement of the ceasefire,” the militia said in a statement.
But Lebanese security sources suggested to dpa that Hezbollah had in fact launched its first attacks on Israel since the beginning of the ceasefire.
Lebanese security sources told dpa that Israel responded with artillery fire on the village of Yohmor and the hills of al-Hamames, across the border from Metula.
Residents in the targeted areas reported hearing loud explosions.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency later reported Israeli fighter jets as well as attacks involving artillery, tanks and machine guns in several locations.
Another ceasefire on the brink?
The fighting threatens to break the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, which has been in place for nearly four months.
The deal put a temporary end to more than a year of intense cross-border attacks between Israel and the Iran-backed group, which intensified when Israeli forces launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon in October.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said that renewed Israeli operations in southern Lebanon could risk dragging the country into a “new war” while the UN observer mission UNIFIL noted that “the fragile stability observed in recent months” was at risk.
According to the observer mission, four projectiles were fired at Israel in the morning, “triggering immediate retaliation by the IDF.”
The Lebanese military said its forces had discovered three simple wooden structures in southern Lebanon designed to launching rockets and dismantled them.
Hezbollah said it remains committed to the ceasefire deal with Israel and “stands behind the Lebanese state” in addressing what the group described as a serious Israeli escalation against Lebanon.
The conflict broke out following the October 7, 2023, attacks by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza, with Hezbollah saying its attacks were in solidarity with the Palestinians.
Earlier this week, Israel also resumed widespread airstrikes and ground operations in Gaza, citing deadlocked negotiations with Hamas on expanding a ceasefire in place since January 19.
Hundreds of Gazans have been killed since the restart of the fighting early on Tuesday, which effectively shattered the temporary ceasefire.
Continued Israeli presence
Under the terms of the ceasefire with Hezbollah, Israeli troops are due to completely withdraw from southern Lebanon, but five military posts remain near the border to Israel.
The government in Beirut views the continued presence of Israeli units in the country as a violation of the ceasefire agreement.
According to NNA, Salam also called UN official Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert to urge the United Nations to “redouble international pressure on Israel to withdraw completely from the occupied Lebanese territories.”
Heavy black smoke billows from an Israeli air strike in the southern Lebanese village of Sujoud in Iqlim al-Toufah. STR/dpa
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